Dear Friends,
Thanks to generous support from Berkshire Bank and Salisbury Bank and Trust, second home owners in Great Barrington, Stockbridge, West Stockbridge, Egremont, New Marlborough, Sheffield, and Alford will learn about BerkShares in a mailing being sent this week.
The packet includes the wallet size directory of BerkShares participating businesses, a complimentary one BerkShare note, and John Eastman’s good “Dear Neighbor” letter (see below).
Please be prepared to respond to new inquiries at your business about use of BerkShares. If you have new staff unfamiliar with BerkShares, you will find an introductory powerpoint presentation at the BerkShares website under “Tools for Businesses.” Or you can request a CD with the training powerpoint and the ABC World News TV segment on BerkShares. We will be glad to send one to you.
New businesses are signing on each week, so check the on-line directory, or ask for a supply of wallet size directories for your business counter.
Thanks for your participation,
The BerkShares Team
P. O. Box 125
Great Barrington, MA 01230
(413) 528-1737
www.berkshares.org
* * * * * * *
from the desk of
John Eastman
New York City and
New Marlborough, Massachusetts
March 25, 2007
Dear Neighbor,
Like you, I spend as much time as I can in the Berkshires, enjoying weekends and occasional longer stretches at our second home in New Marlborough. My fiancée and I live and work in New York City, but increasingly are drawn to the peace, beauty, culture, and community of this special part of New England. In fact, we have decided to celebrate our marriage in the Berkshires this spring, inviting friends and family to come experience the magic of the place we have fallen in love with since our first visit.
BerkShares--the local currency launched last September by BerkShares, Inc in collaboration with the E. F. Schumacher Society and Southern Berkshires Chamber of Commerce is one of the binding threads of our time and experience in the Berkshires. BerkShares is the best possible vehicle I can think of to help protect and strengthen the very qualities that make the Berkshires unique: a deep and abiding commitment to place, community, conservation and sustainability.
When Thu and I marry this May, we will do so with love and with . . . BerkShares! In planning for the event we have made a conscious effort to identify those individuals and businesses--from our photographer, Jason Houston, to our rehearsal dinner at the Route 7 Grill--who accept BerkShares and to use them to make our wedding a truly local celebration.
Every time we see the sticker on a business door that says “BerkShares Accepted Here” we feel a personal connection to values that keep us hopeful and committed to working for a less depersonalized, consumerist world. And from a household economy perspective, it certainly doesn’t hurt that for every $90 US dollars we convert, we walk away with 100 BerkShares to spend locally.
If you aren’t yet using BerkShares in the Berkshires to support local economy and celebrate local culture, you are missing out on a wonderfully rewarding and fun way to make your second home life that much more enjoyable. I encourage you to learn more at berkshares.org.
In community,
John Eastman |
